Unexpected Landscape Lighting Features that Will Wow Your Guests

Landscape lighting is one of the most fun features to play around with when you’re figuring out how you want your property to look. There’s something about light that never fails to attract people’s interest. What’s more, there are endless options for customizing your outdoor lighting in clever ways. Here are a few lighting ideas that will make your guests love your yard:

Wall lighting

A warm light fitted to the side of a wall can give the entire structure a subtle yet majestic glow. These lights in and of themselves don’t need to be anything fancy – in fact, the simpler, the better. What matters with wall lighting is the placement. Finding that sweet spot where the light gives just the right effect can be tricky. But once you’ve found it, you’ve got a great feature that will give warmth and just the right amount of brilliance to your garden at nighttime. If you want to be really creative, you can have lights that are actually embedded in the wall, giving an ethereal transparency and shine in unexpected locations. We just finished a job that utilized the lighting for an outdoor kitchen they had lighting over all of their Floform countertops and the grilling station.

Fountain lighting

If you’ve got a fountain in your yard, one of the best ways to show it off is to place a light underneath the water’s path so that each ripple becomes a glowing, liquid crystal. The interplay between the bubbling fountain sounds and the sparkling light will create a fantastically charming effect. Even on the driest of days, your garden will be an oasis of freshness and brilliance. You can also place a light in a pond fed by the fountain. Underwater lighting is one of the classiest and most innovative ways to make your yard unique. If you have fish in your ponds, then they will take on some of the shine every time they flit past the light source.

Pathway lighting

There’s nothing more romantic than a well-lit garden pathway. Stake out locations for your lights at regular intervals, and then leave the particular styles of the lights up to your imagination! Popular ideas for pathway lighting include classic lanterns and opulent glowing orbs. You can experiment with different heights for the light posts, ranging from short, humble markers to graceful lighting from above. This will make your pathway not only more beautiful, but also safer, since you and your guests will be able to see the walkway in the dark!

Large custom lantern or fire pit

Source: https://www.unilock.com/products/unilock-select/rivenstone/

You can really let your imagination run wild with this one. If there’s a cozy alcove somewhere in your yard that has a function similar to that which a fireplace provides indoors, then you should consider outfitting it with a large lantern or fire pit to radiate warmth across the area. This could end up being the perfect location for intimate outdoor gatherings. With the lantern/fire pit as a focal point and several comfortable benches or chairs arranged in a circular or semicircular fashion, you will have the best spot in your neighborhood for socializing on a summer’s eve. The light source itself can be whatever suits your fancy. It can have a Hawaiian theme, with thatched grass coverings, or a minimalist zen-like fire pit. You can have electric lights that have the same general appearance as a fire pit but don’t require constant rekindling. For a similar but more dispersed effect, you can substitute the single light source for a number of smaller lanterns artfully placed around the seating areas.

Floating paper lanterns

For a charming, fairy-tale look, you can spread beautiful and delicate paper lanterns around your garden. These can be hung from tree branches or from narrow, graceful poles. The light from these lanterns will be quite soft, but it will be just the right amount to give a cozy illumination to some of the more interesting and intimate parts of your yard. Paper lanterns work especially well in complex gardens with multiple small alcoves.

Strings of lights

Although these are best known for the winter holiday season, there’s no reason that you can’t illuminate some of your favorite bushes and trees with glowing strands year-round. Your yard will dazzle viewers from a great distance with these sparkling fixtures. You can also place them around the entryway to your house, or along the contours of a small gazebo.

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to get creative with outdoor lighting! The most important thing is to let your imagination run free.

As a professional lighting company, we can help you put it all together and turn your ideas into a reality! Contact Inaray today so we can design an outdoor lighting plan for your home.